Morning glory

I woke at six o clock and after pushing annoying thoughts of work to the back of my mind I enjoyed a feeling of rapturous warmth and comfort. The temperature in the bedroom had attained that perfect autumnal degree; not yet so cold that the thought of climbing out of bed filled me with chill dread – but the contrast between the air in the room and under the covers was such that I could not help but roll around wallowing in the luxuriousness of it, alternately stretching and scrunching myself up into a ball and rolling around in an effort to use as much of the full width of the bed as I could.

My girlfriend is on a plane to Addis Ababa, probably almost there now, so I had the bed to myself. Although waking up next to her has it’s many charms, particularly on a day like today when I know that the only work I need to do is tinker with the odd line of code and send a few chirpy emails. We take it in turns to spoon each other and snooze in each others arms and it’s a most lovely feeling of belonging. However, this morning I was alone and it occurred to me, not for the first time, that I’ve been missing waking up lazily solo.

As my long suffering girlfriend will testify I’m a fiercely independent bachelor type, I’ve never regularly shared a bed bigger than a queen size and during the course of this last year a rather unsettling precedent has established itself in our bedroom routine which is pushing me to the absolute: somehow the woman I love has, with the best intentions in the world, inched me into the hinterland of my own sacred boudoir – I now spend most nights cramped into a quarter of the bed while she wallows in the rest.

Not only does this challenge my manhood, the innate and sexist knowledge that it’s me who should be dominating the bed, it also means that frequently I can wake in the morning with my arse hanging out into the abyss. While we laugh about it my girlfriend has suggested that this imbalance in our sleeping routine may hint at a more sinister discrepancy in our relationship and while this worries me a bit basically I think it’s just bloody unfair.

Anyway, on this particular morning as the minutes melted away and my mind found itself gradually unwinding in the glorious comfort of the supremely cosy little world I has managed to temporarily reclaim, not only did I resolve to begin more forcefully staking my claim on my half of the bed but it also occurred to me that it was a perfect morning for a run. I knew without needing to peer out from beneath the covers that it was a perfectly crisp late September day, and given that there will not be many of these between now and the marathon day in seven months time it would be incredibly poor form if I didn’t venture out before breakfast for a brisk run around the park.

So I climbed out of bed, pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, dusted off my running shoes and then sat down at my desk and switched on my computer – not the most dynamic start to my training but I feel that I want to capture this feeling while I’m able. Later on there may be distractions – there usually are – now there is peace and quiet and sunlight streaming through the bedroom window and I’m about to embark on a great adventure and I want to share it with you.

While the idea to run and write about it has been simmering for a few weeks I have not yet been presented with a good opportunity to test my resolve. There’s something enormously appealing about the idea of exercising my self-discipline in such a way: two challenges – to run and to write, on the surface one appears to be physical and the other mental, but of course there’s more to it than that, when it comes to marathon running as with so many difficulties in life that at first appear to be purely physical, the mental battle is the greater challenge.

Over the course of the next seven months I fully expect to be taken to my physical, mental and emotional limits. For me there is also a spiritual dimension. I have been categorized by those closest to me as ‘a searcher’ and although by definition I’m not entirely sure what that means I do know that part of my reason for giving myself this challenge is to seek God. I believe we can only truly perceive God – whatever It is – if we push ourselves.

I digress. Here I sit contemplating my run this morning and all the runs I will be embarking on over the coming months. I’m procrastinating. It’s time to hit the road.